Christmas is in the Air......

Greetings All,

Well a week ago today, I went back to MN to pickup my new Tahoe. Dam! it feels nice to be back in my Chevy. It isn't the Suburban, but it is very close!

This last weekend wasn't to eventful, but Saturday was the annual Christmas card photo shoot. The past 2 years we just had to get Lilly to cooperate.....This year was a different story! Since last Christmas we have added Jack, Charlie & Oliver to our family, so getting ALL 4 of them to cooperate was a feat in itself. After 2 1/2 hours and over 100 shots (thank goodness for digital cameras) we finally got the winning photos.....ok, we gave up and this is the best we could get! lol

Saturday evening after Jonathan got off work, the 3 of us headed off to Elk Mound to cut our Christmas tree. By the time we arrived it was dark, we were unable to see, so we decided Joel would take Friday off and we would go back in the afternoon. Headed to Eau Claire to a new Chinese restaurant I had found and after a nice dinner for 3, we headed home.

Sunday, Joel screwed around the house while I worked on the newly developed Christmas cards.

6 days until I start my 7 week training program for the new job........

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Finally all ready for my new job!

Brand new wardrobe.......check

Brand new/used vehicle.......check

December 6th start date..........

The past week was nothing special, but the weekend was pretty spontaneous!
As the winter comes upon us, we have been anticipating what the Waage's are going to be doing about transportation. So seeing Joel can't drive the Aveo long distance to work, he will start driving the Honda. Jonathan's birthday is Friday, so happy birthday baby......you now are the owner of a 2004 Chevy Aveo! And I am the recipient of the new car, 2001 Chevy Tahoe. I just couldn't imagine driving the Aveo back & forth from Eau Claire in the winter, so hence the new vehicle.

So we found the Tahoe on car-soup, but before we went to far we decided to get pre-approved on a car load. We turned in the completed application to our credit union on Friday morning and figured we wouldn't hear anything until Monday. On Saturday morning, Joel & I headed up to Rice Lake to do our weekly errands including stopping off at the bank to deposit my work checks. While we were there, Lisa yelled across the room and asked us to come into her office. She told us we got approved and let her know what the final number was going to be. We left and started heading west to MN. Called Rick to schedule to meet him & see the vehicle. Rick scheduled our meeting at his work, Coon Rapids City Hall. Once we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to find out he is a Police Sargent. After test driving, negotiations, sealing the deal.....we headed out for lunch with John & Joanne. Had a fabulous time visiting with them and once we departed from one another.......it was time to do some more tax free clothes shopping!!

Dang! Does shopping ever wear me out....NOT! But I think my husband was getting pretty whooped, so we started to head for home. We couldn't leave MN without hooking our little guy, Jonathan up with a couple of his favorites.........The Gargantuan from Jimmy John's & French Silk Pie from Baker's Square. Thought we would stop off for some dinner for us as well, but couldn't find a nice Chinese restaurant. Being stuck in Lino Lakes with no place to dine means...............a 911 call to Klaus & Ann! Love when we surprise people!! It is great!! Ran over to their house, had a beer or 2 while they got cleaned up and ran up to Miller's Bar & Grill for dinner, drinks and conversation. Handed out hugs and kisses......started for home.

Sunday.....the ice day. Jonathan had to work at 6:30 am and we were awoken to phone ringing. Jonathan was stuck in the driveway and couldn't get out. Joel got up to take him to work in the Honda. As he backed out of the garage and "gunned" it to get up the driveway which is a hill. Needless to say he got stuck and slid as I watch horrified that he was sliding into the Aveo which was parked in the driveway. He saved it and didn't plow into the Aveo, but with only about 2 inches to spare. Once he pulled the Aveo forward onto the grass, he was able to maneuver the Honda around and eventually got onto the grass. While I was watching this all go down, I decided to get dressed to ride with along with him to drop Jonathan off at work. The roads weren't too bad, but sure not for the Aveo to drive on. Headed back to bed to sleep a couple hours. Later, got up to do chores around the house and watch the Vike's get their ass kicked. The rest of the afternoon & evening was uneventful.....

The week ahead is starting off to be a fun one filled with family, friends and loved one. Tuesday I get to go back to MN to pickup my new car, Wednesday is a trip to Eau Claire and of course Thursday is a day to be Thankful.....even though I am Thankful everyday. On turkey day....John, Joanne, Courtney and Grandma Waage are coming for dinner, games and birthday cake. Rita & John Young are unable to make it this year, so they will be in our thoughts and Thanksgiving prayers as well as Ashley & Abby.

As we enter this week of Thanksgiving.......know that the Waage family is thankful that you are in our lives.

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Well, we broke down and............

turned the heat on!

I guess we adults can put additional clothes on to keep warm, but the puppies just couldn't keep warm.

Once we turned the heat on, there was one puppy that was very happy.........


Little Jack was caught being a heat register hog! lol

Shopping, Shopping and More Shopping!

This past week was pretty boring with the exception of lots of shopping going on! I have spent the last week & weekend shopping for new clothes for the new job. Being in the transportation field for almost 15 years, my wardrobe consists of jeans & sweatshirts, so I have been having to rebuild a business casual wardrobe instead.......darn! :)

Saturday, Joel & I went to Rice Lake in hopes a finding a reasonable priced carpet cleaner due to our little Oliver not being potty trained quite yet. Did a little Christmas shopping and clothes shopping. We received very little snow, ours up here was more in the form of rain & sleet that melted immediately. We maybe received about an inch or so. That evening we attended a Lions function at The Pokegama. Back in September we had purchased some gun raffle tickets in support of the Lions and the charity & people they help.

Flash back....about 16 years. Jonathan had a eye problem when he was a wee little guy.....about 2 1/2. Most people saw it as a "lazy" eye, but it was the furthest from the truth. He had a week or almost non existance eye muscle that controlled the movement of the eye. Joel & I had 2 options to consider: surgery or bifocal glasses. We decided to go with the glasses, but didn't have the money at that time to purchase them. We were put in touch with the SSP Lions who paid in full for Jonathan's glasses. It took many years before we were financially stable, but we have never forgotten that gesture. Every year for the last 12 years,we had purchased our family Christmas tree from the SSP Lions. Yes, we could have gone else where to buy a cheaper one, but we wanted to re-pay their gratitude for helping us. Well, last year when we moved to the lake permanently, we didn't have the Lions to purchase a tree from. So, hence the rifle & gun raffle.......we were able to find a way to continue to give back to the Lions and help support their great causes.

So speaking of Christmas trees, now the Waage's need to start a new tradition for finding the family tree. So we have come up with the 1st annual cutting of the family tree! We live in the north woods and we have decided to make it a family outing & go cut our own tree. It is never to late to start new traditions. As the holidays draw near, this is when I miss the girls the most......it would be nice to include them in our new tradition.

Any how, on Sunday we went back to Minnesota....again! That is twice in a week. Our niece Courtney, is a play entitled, Home Room. It is a play about Homelessness and helping bring awareness to the community. She and the cast did a phenomenal job. After wards, We .......along with John, Joanne, Grandma Waage & Courtney went to Olive Garden to celebrate. We wouldn't have missed it for the world.....Good job Courtney, we are so proud of you and glad that you are turning your life around!! There is NOTHING you can't do if you set your mind to it. Whoot! Whoo! On the way home we stopped to do some more tax free clothes & shoe shopping :)

This week ahead is going to be spent preparing for the new job, preparing for the holidays and just being thankful.

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Greetings from the Northwoods....

Well, the last couple of weeks have been trying at the Waage's house as Big Joe has lost his unemployment. He has been applying all over the place, but unfortunately his prior workman's comp law suit seems to be stopping him flat in his tracks.

11 years ago he worked for Bix Produce. He was delivering produce to a restuarant on Grand Avenue where their refrigerator was in the basement. So as he lowered his 2-wheeler down the narrow steps, he fell to the bottom and landed on top of the produce. Well, it wasn't enough to break his fall and he sustained a back injury. After about 9 months, he won his lawsuit and took the proceeds to re-educate himself. In addition we also received life time medical benefits on his injuried back. He has restriction of no lifting over 40 lbs, no constant bending, no twisting, no standing for long periods of time and no sitting for long periods of time. Once we put himself through CAD drafting school, he found the perfect job at Dunham & Associates. He was able to sit & also move around........until they laid him off due to the recession in Feb 2009 after 10 years of service.

Now, as he applies for jobs as soon as he checks "yes" in the box "do you have any restrictions" ....he is done for. With today's unemployment rate as high as it is, the employers have their choice of employees and they surely don't want him with his back issues. If he were to lie on his application, re-injure his back, file a claim on the old lawsuit, they would do an investigation on his current job, find out he was not living under his current restriction....they would deny his claim. He is dammed if he does & dammed if he doesn't!

Joel & I count on his rent and his contribution to the household since I started my own business. A new business in this recession.....sucks, but it is do-able. So in order to keep everyone above water, I went out a got a new job!! Woo Hoo!! Last Friday I received the news, so starting December 6th I will be a customer Service Representative at X Cel Energy!!! With the option of picking my hours, I will be able to continue my dream of working on my business.

Saturday, Joel & I met a high school friend of mine, Susan at Turtle Lake Casino for Breakfast cocktails, conversation and a little gambling. Had a blast and even took $5.00 and turned it into $60.00. Mama needs a new pair of shoes!! After that we went to Rice Lake for some shopping. Once we closed the stores, we headed back to the house where dinner had been in the crockpot and Jim & Pam come over for dinner, domino's & beers! It was a lovely evening.

Sunday Joel & I headed back to Minnesota to fix the siding on the SSP house that had been ripped off during that last big wind storm we had. We had coordinated that along with Rita & John's birthday's all in one trip. So after a couple hours of clothes shopping for my new job, we picked up Rita & John and headed to meet Grandma Waage, John, Joanne and Courtney for a family dinner. We all had a very nice time and we were very excited to see Courtney whom we hadn't seen in quite some time. After we dropped everyone off at their homes, we headed out to do one more shopping stop. Once we purchased our heated mattress, it was time to go back to the northwoods.......

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3rd Annual Halloween Scavenger Hunt

Well.....what can I say but Halloween weekend was a frickin blast.

On Friday, Joel took the day off to complete another quick remodeling job he had been working on for about 2 weeks. I had a busy day at the "office" while Big Joe puppy sat and kept them out of trouble. Wayde & Shelley were the first to arrive with Sheldon coming in closely behind. Shelley was sporting a nice cold, so after a while she & I turned in early while the boys had a beer or two along with a couple of games of cribbage.

Saturday morning we were up early to get breakfast under our belts and prepare our costumes for the scavenger hunt. We have been taking part in the Gilligan's Halloween Scavenger hunt for 2 years and we never had gone in costume, so we decided this year we would put something together. Klaus & Ann showed up around 10:00 and after all the hugs & kisses it was time to go to work in the garage.
After the prep was completed.....off to Gilligan's Bar & Grill we went to start our hunt. The idea is to go to each of the local bars and participate in a game, test or craft. You get scored on each of the them, but you never know how they are scoring until the end of the hunt when they add up your score. As an example......at the VFW we were given a red piece of paper, a blue piece of paper (a tad smaller than the red) and a white piece of paper (a tad smaller than the bed). We were asked to make an American Flag. You don't know how you are getting scored, you just gotta wing it. At Red's Bar & Grill .....we had to open individual wrapped life savers, lick and stick them on a team members face! Poor Big Joe!!!! The shitty thing about the whole thing is that we didn't even get a picture of it!
After the hunt was over, we all had to meet back at Gilligan's for scoring. In the past we always had come in last. This year we moved up 1 notch to 8th place out of 9 place.
Went back to the house for dinner, bon fire, game of Mexican Domino's and cocktails.

Sunday morning everyone sorta slept in, but we needed to eat breakfast quickly as Wayde & Shelley needed to depart early to attend a family gathering later in the day. Klaus & Ann followed closely behind with Sheldon taking off in time to get home to watch the Vikes game & take his children out trick & treating.

All in all it was a fabulous weekend and fun to be had by all. Now the question is...........what shall we be next year?

P.S. We got almost a prefect score on the VFW Flag score. Me being anal paid off for once......2 points for every star, 2 points for every stripe (13 stripes), 25 points for starting with a red stripe, 25 points for ending with a red stripe and 50 points if you did a flag on the back side of the paper.

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